The megalodon shark can grow to gigantic lengths of between 15 feet to 20 feet before it went extinct 3.6 million years ago. As one of the largest predators ever lived, the giant shark has captured people's imagination and was featured in many films.
Megalodon Dominate the Ocean Before Extinction
Megalodon sharks used to dominate the oceans before going extinct. According to the Natural History Museum, the earliest megalodon fossils found date back to 20 million years ago.
They were the biggest sharks that ever lived and one of the largest fish to ever exist. They were reportedly three times bigger than the largest great white shark ever found. However, current estimates of its size are still not 100% accurate since no complete megalodon skeletons have yet been discovered.
Scientists only rely on the megalodon teeth found in different parts of the world to estimate the length of the megalodon shark. Emma Bernard, who curates the Museum's fossil fish collection, said that its large serrated teeth were most likely used to tear off flesh from whales and large fish.
Fossil evidence shows that megalodons regularly feed on whales, as some of them have cut marks from megalodon teeth etched on the surface. Other fossils also contain the tip of the broken teeth during a feeding frenzy from millions of years ago.
According to the museum, megalodons open their mouths at a span of 2.7 to 3.4 meters wide, which could fit two adults. In that way, they could swallow their prey easily. Megalodon's jaws were lined with 276 teeth with a bite force that is one of the most powerful of all predators.
Megalodon Sharks are the Ultimate Apex Predator
A May 2022 study revealed that great white sharks which coexisted with the megalodon preyed on the same animals, causing competition between the two species, which may be one of the factors how the megalodon went extinct. But even so, a more recent study shows that the megalodon is the ultimate apex predator that ever ruled the oceans.
According to Daily Star, researchers examined thousands of shark teeth to prove that the megalodon is the ultimate apex predator, surpassing records of other marine predators. Dr. Emma Kast, the first author of the study, said that megalodon teeth show that megalodon was indeed an enormous carnivore that ate other predators but went extinct a few million years ago.
To know that megalodon sits at the top of the food web, scientists looked at the nitrogen in recovered fossil teeth. The more nitrogen-15 it has, the higher its trophic level. Their findings show that megalodon sharks hunted around the world at the very top of a global marine food chain.
Emma added that it would be much more helpful if there were other museums or archives with a snapshot of an ecosystem at the time to study the food web of different kinds of fish. The same nitrogen isotope analysis could be put together to know the story of an ancient ecosystem.
The researchers discussed their findings in full in the study titled "Cenozoic Megatooth Sharks Occupied Extremely High Trophic Positions," published in the journal Science Advances.
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